The Thomson High Bulldogs nearly pulled off what surely would have been an upset when they hosted the Washington County Golden Hawks on the hardwood at The Dog House in Thomson last Saturday night.
Unfortunately, such wasn't to be the case, as the Hawks rallied late in the fourth period and prevailed 54-49.
The loss dropped Thomson's Region 3-AAA basketball record to a dismal 1-8 and 6-12 on the season. It also was their second straight loss in as many nights. The Bulldogs were upended 83-55 by the Liberty County Panthers in Hinesville last Friday night.
Longtime Thomson head coach Michael Thomas was a man with few words following his team's loss to WACO.
"We've got to get better," lamented Thomas, as he quickly walked away to join his team in the locker room.
In their latest game against WACO, the Bulldogs were in the thick of things right to the end.
The Bulldogs managed to outscore the Golden Hawks 15-12 in the first eight minutes of play -- thanks in part to some fine offensive and defensive plays.
In the second period, Thomson continued to demonstrate fine abilities on both sides of the ball. After being tied, 15 all, Thomson's Lavance Yarbrough yanked down a big rebound and passed the ball off to Mikel Paschal who scored to put the Bulldogs up 17-15. A WACO player later hit a three-point shot that put the Hawks up 18-17. Thomson's Deandre Williams moved quickly down court and answered the long shot with his own version to put his team back out front.
From there, the Bulldogs went on a scoring jaunt -- one that saw them build up an eight-point lead, 28-20 with a little more than three minutes remaining in the first half. Again, it was Williams making a big play, offensive, which allowed Thomson to take such advantage. It came on a driving layup.
Thomson led 30-24 thanks to Jonathan Atkins' free throws just before halftime.
The third period turned out to be the difference in the game, as the Golden Hawks caught fire, offensively, outscoring the Bulldogs 17-8. They ended up reclaiming the lead, 41-38 heading into the fourth and final period.
The Bulldogs drew within a point of WACO with 5:06 left in the game, as Atkins connected on a layup off the glass. However, the Bulldogs were never able to regain the lead again.
In the Thomson-WACO game, the Bulldogs were led in scoring by Atkins with 16 points.
Other players contributing to scoring points for the Bulldogs in that game included: Ronkeem Sallywhite, 7, Williams, 5, Jimmy Jones, 4, Dewayne Williams, 4, Jamonte Beard, 2 and Paschal, 2, respectively.
Against Liberty County, Williams led the Bulldogs with 15 points. He was followed by Joshua Daniels with 9, Dwayne Williams, 9, Jones, 6, Sallywhite, 5, Rodman Ramsey, 4, Ivery McNair, 3, Yarbrough, 4 and Akins, 3, respectively.
Thomson's next game is against West Laurens in Dublin on Saturday night.
